Bastet of the Bandit king
by Ankh mau
Summary: Ancient Egyption AU. Featuring Thief King Bakura, and his sole companion. A certain albino feline. Slow updates & slow-burn gemshipping (in later chapters.)


review for updates! Thank you.. i own nothing!

 _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Ryou's entire body radiated discomfort. He was completely out of his element- this _filth_ was completely alien to him. Just this morning, he'd been in the pharaohs very throne room- lavishly seated upon a satin cushion whilst delicate fingers intertwined the tangles from his silky fur. Now that once milky-white pelt was coated in a thick layer of dust and grime while his emerald eyes glowed with extreme displeasure in the darkened passageway.

He wasn't even sure why he'd bothered venturing down the pitch black crevice he'd found splitting down the abandoned courtyard wall.

He could fool himself by saying it was the rat that had drawn him in there, it had relied on the opening to escape his lethal claws after all. But in reality he new the blasted rodent was no real loss, certainly not worth the time or effort. Anything he truly desired could be obtained through his young consort. An entire banquet of rats could be prepared if he so wished (which he did not.)

 _However_ , since the pharaohs palace served as his domain for the moment, he'd made sure to leave no inch of it unexplored- dutifully noting down all and any explorations he'd made in the back of his mind.

So it was peculiar how the large fissure had evaded him, despite it being located no more than a few footfalls away from his little associates room.

Not to mention the reeking, ineludible smell it emanated. Even for him, the intermingled scents of rot, faeces and sickness were absolutely stifling, so much so he almost recoiled.

Overall, he was understandably _baffled_ at the strange a discovery.

Perhaps his attention had been so rapt on that stupid rat he'd neglected to notice it?

 _No,_

It was something else. He was certain. Something that he couldn't quite put his paw on. It made his whiskers twitch, and his tail flick in apprehension. The odd, mysterious crack that had no right being there, Made him feel almost _uneasy_... but for all of his nine lives- he couldn't figure out why.

he had know one thing though, and that was that these foreign emotions were most definitely not welcome.

Still.. It was... _Perplexing_.

It was almost like a challenge.

Naturally, with Ryou being a feline (and a rather curious and determined one at that) he hadn't been about to turn down a challenge. So, he'd put his uneasiness aside and tried to ignore the disgusting scent that sent chills of dread down his spine as he launched himself full force at the tight cleft. Twisting and contorting his slim, small body as his mud-encrusted claws scrabbled to push himself forwards.

That brash action was one he was begrudgingly starting to regret. Ryou was in every aspect exhausted, this.. _labour_ was something he defiantly wasn't accustomed to.

The cracked wall had opened up into a small tunnel just wide enough for his small body to wiggle through but not quite big enough to grant him the required leeway to backtrack and turn around.

Therefore he'd been forced to continue forwards, even as his delicate, unaccustomed paw pads grew raw and his stomach began to rumble.

Despite his discomfort, the irritable feline could do nothing but hiss.

He was trapped in this god-forsaken hole for as long as long as he didn't continue forwards. Really why couldn't he just leave things?

 _"Because your a cat"_ an accusing inner voice muttered, making his tail twitch in irritation.

He scowled.

He wouldn't precisely classify himself as your _average_ cat- in-fact, he was quiet literally a god among his species, (though whether this was a good or bad thing was debatable) the closest companion ( _or so he liked to think_ ) of the current pharaohs own young prodigy- the future king of Egypt.

The boy- _Atem_ \- Ryou believed he was called, (though he was rarely referred to by the name directly, as to do so was apparently a ' _taboo_ ' of sorts, or something along those lines. Humans were _weird_ ) was a sweet child, somewhat lonely perhaps, but certainly wanton for nothing... Ryou had grown fond of him even if his pampering was grating at times.

Regardless, He'd long since made it his mission to safeguard the boy from harm- therefore, in his eyes at-least, it was his duty to investigate any _suspicious_ cracks in any _suspicious_ walls.

This is why he was doing this, not because he was bored of his current lavish-lifestyle, or anything like that, no- he was doing this because Atem _needed him_ , because he had purpose beyond being the princes pretty little _accessory_.

He snorted. _Geez_ , he really did sound pathetic.

Suddenly a chores of ushered of voices echoed down the tunnel, simultaneously interrupting his musings.

Blinking Ryou stilled to listen.

'Voices?'

The milky-white feline wondered, pressing one of his fluffy ears to the nearest wall. All his previous self pity diminishing.

'Did that mean he was near some kind of exit? A way to escape?'

 _"Or perhaps your just getting yourself more lost."_

Ryou snorted, the small smile that had stretched across his face melting away in favour of a peeved frown.

Even with his heightened senses, there was no way he could hear what they were saying- they were to muffled, _purposely_ quiet. Though, One voice sounded familiar and they were both human that was for sure- that was much as he was able to deduct.

Sighing, he pushed himself onwards- the volume of the distant voices slowly increasing.

Yes, he thought to himself, as he drew nearer, the stench from earlier making him cringe.

 _Definitely human,_

Though It wasn't his native language- and at times their speech was still nothing nothing but jumbled, disjointed sounds, he'd made a point to educate himself on it to the best of his abilities (there were reasons cats were so highly worshipped, they were intelligent creatures, if nothing else.) Though complicated and foreign.. the skill to at least _somewhat_ translate their odd way of speaking had proved to be beneficial on numerous occasions.

This, being Such an occasion

As Ryou followed the voices further down the narrow passage way, he was able to pick out stray phrases- words here and there,

"Pillaging, tomb-robbing,murdering, do you have _no_ honour?"

"You'll _rot_ in this cell."

 **"That's a lot of bull shit your spouting there, _boy_."**

 _"The gods have cursed your soul!"_

 **"Want to die?"**

A cold, piercing laugh followed after that one.

 _"_ Retched _thief king"_

Ryou shivered.

That one human (was he even human?) didn't seem...quite _right_...His voice sounded dark, almost corrupted, like a low, _sultry_ , thrum laced with cool anger and superiority as it reverberated of the walls. It made Ryou's claws involuntary flex with supressed anxiety.

He didn't have a clue what they were referring to-

-yet, despite the almost _suffocating_ , _claustrophobic_ heat of the tightly enclosed tunnel, he felt a cold buzz travel down his spine.

 _Weird_.

Narrowing his sharp eyes, Ryou pushed himself onwards.

There was only one way to go after all, and though he wouldn't admit it, he felt almost..intrigued.

It took a few, long moments before he was able to squeeze forwards, but when he finally pushed through he felt a wave of relief wash over his form leaving him weak and exhausted- his bones aching and saw.

 _At last._

Ahead of him, the tunnels outer crust crumbled away to reveal a small, 4 ft wide incision leading outwards.

As Ryou Scooted forwards he grinned triumphantly.

 _Finally_! The first thing he was going to do once he got out of here was to take a long, hot bath to clean this disgusting scent seemingly stuck to his fur and entwine the tangles from his knotted pelt, oh and then perhaps he'd have a whole freshly prepared bass from the Nile. Or just simply go straight to sleep.. depended how he felt. Though right now he was undeniably exhausted.

 _"Perhaps, this will serve as an adequate punishment for now."_ chimed a sudden furious voice interrupting his ramblings- an all to _familiar_ voice at that.

'wait... _Seto_?' Ryou blinked in bewilderment.

A low, evil chuckle erupted from the other man's twisted lips.

The emerald eyed kitten gulped, halting himself.

 _ **"Bold words priest, i could snap that neck of yours if I truly wanted to."**_

The passageways entry was positioned at the crest of a towering vertical wall and opened onwards onto an erect drop. Below Stood a tiny derelict room with one solitary torch flickering dimly.

 _ **"You truly believe These bars would be able to stop me?"**_

In the centre, four large, steel beams reached from the ceiling to the ground separating one half of the room from the other.

on the side opposite to his current position, a large impassible door stood.

With his enhanced eyesight he could see an abundance of tightly woven bolts and locks adorning the door, and could only blink in confusion,

There had to be another exit right?

How was he going to get out of there?

 _"Your all talk scoundrel, my men captured you easily-"_

Frowning he flicked his tail irritably.

Despite his nervousness, Ryou leaned over the overhanging ridge.

 _"-I have no reason to believe you are any more skilled at escaping, than you are at evading my forces."_

Directly beneath him lay nothing but a simple matt and a single wooden bed chained to the wall.

But that wasn't what caught his attention- beyond that, He could just make out two figures through the inky blackness, they stood as opposites, both different sides of the bars. One was crouched to the ground- adorning his body was a scarlet cape so _vibrant_ it sliced through the darkness like a blood stained knife.

 _ **"Your forces boy?"**_

And the other, the one closest to the door, furthest from himself- There was no mistaking, it was Seto. No wonder the voice sounded so familiar..

 _ **"Forgive me- but I do believe they are the pharaohs forces"**_

He could see the priest standing tall in the darkness, the soft orange glow of the torch light making the numerous bangles that clung to his mocha form twinkle as his cool blue eyes glowed. The infamous open fronted helm he always wore, adorned with a miniature golden cobra statuette on its forefront, sat proudly on top his head.

 _ **"You are just a mere priest after all"**_

Ryou felt his stomach drop as he examined the man.

It was definitely the priest- but _what_ _was_ _he_ _doing_ _here_? He was an esteemed member of the pharaohs very own royal court, why was he dwelling in a hovel such as this?

 _"Silence, yourself this instant rouge!"_

Ryou frowned in confusion.

 _ **"Come now, You don t hold any true power, right?**_

The man had only just recently been inducted into pharaoh Aknamkanons court, Ryou wasn't as familiar with him as he was with the rest of the priests, he seemed far to arrogant for his liking anyway.

However, there was a certain a vibe about the him- an unnerving atmosphere of superiority that oddly resembled the little princes and the rest of his his kin's aura, especially that brother of pharaoh, what was his name? _Aknadin_?

Strange.

 _ **"your just another one of your precious pharaohs little slaves."**_

... Right now though, His main priority was was to escape this place. He'd spent far to long here already, He could contemplate the priests origins at a later date.

 _ **"Heh. Look there, that is defiantly hatred burning in your eyes, why do i have the feeling its not fully directed at me?"**_

Still, despite, his longing to return back, something still made him pause. It was like a cold shiver slowly creeping its way up his spine making him rigid with an overwhelming sense of uneasiness.

It was coming from that man.

 _"What you speak of is traitorous."_

He could leap down if he truly desired. It wasn't a long drop- not for a feline at least. _So_ _why_? _Why_ was he making him so anxious?

 _ **"Indeed it is, priest."**_

It was then a cackle- loud and fractured like the dying screech of wounded animal, burst from the other kneeling body's lips. The scarlet man lurched forwards faster than the rat Ryou had chased earlier, faster than the pharaohs horses, faster than anything the little feline had ever witnessed in his short life time, towards the startled priest.

In that moment, Ryou could've of swore the very walls shook along with that deranged laugh- and that the shadows jeered angrily around them.

An undignified yelp left the priest as he quickly fell backwards away from the hand, his large helm falling from his head in the process, landing on the ground with a resounding crash.

Seto backed away slowly before lifting himself to his feet, not bothering to retrieve the fallen head ornament in his haste to escape.

Ryou watched him blankly as he lifted a small golden rod upwards, the man's toneless, crude, howling never ceasing as the door quickly unbound and unbolted itself from its bindings, opening to grant the priest passageway.

As he departed he grasped the only single, low-burning torch, taking it with him and leaving the small room in complete blackness as the door closed behind him.

Ryou new he should have ran after him, tried to follow him through the door or at least mewed to alert the man of his presence.

But he was frozen in place.

Just who was this person?

 _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Thank you for for reading! This is my first ever fic & first ever time using this sight, so bare in mind it might not be amazing ahhhh.


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